Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (audio speaker iconlisten ; née Albrecht, 8 October 1958) is a German politician. She is the President of the European Commission.

Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission
Assumed office
1 December 2019
First Vice-PresidentFrans Timmermans
Maroš Šefčovič
Preceded byJean-Claude Juncker
Minister of Defence
In office
17 December 2013 – 17 July 2019
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byThomas de Maizière
Succeeded byAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
In office
15 November 2010 – 22 November 2019
Serving with Volker Bouffier, Julia Klöckner, Armin Laschet and Thomas Strobl
LeaderAngela Merkel
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded bySilvia Breher
Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
In office
30 November 2009 – 17 December 2013
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byFranz Josef Jung
Succeeded byAndrea Nahles
Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
In office
22 November 2005 – 30 November 2009
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byRenate Schmidt
Succeeded byKristina Schröder
Lower Saxony State Minister for Social Affairs, Women, Family and Health
In office
4 March 2003 – 22 November 2005
Minister PresidentChristian Wulff
Preceded byGitta Trauernicht
Succeeded byMechthild Ross-Luttmann
Member of the Bundestag
for Lower Saxony
In office
27 September 2009 – 31 July 2019
ConstituencyState Wide Party List
Personal details
Born
Ursula Gertrud Albrecht

(1958-10-08) 8 October 1958
Ixelles, Belgium
Political partyChristian Democratic Union
Spouse(s)Heiko von der Leyen
Children7
FatherErnst Albrecht
Alma materUniversity of Göttingen
University of Münster
London School of Economics
Hannover Medical School
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

She had served as Minister of Defence of Germany from 2013 to 2019. She is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Von der Leyen is the only minister to have been in Angela Merkel's cabinet since she took office in 2005, first as Minister of Family Affairs and Youth from 2005 to 2009, then as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2009 to 2013, before becoming Minister of Defence in 2013.[1]

German politician Ernst Albrecht was her father.

On 2 July 2019, von der Leyen was nominated by the European Council to the position of President of the European Commission.[2][3] With a close majority, she was elected by the European Parliament on 16 July.[4] She is the first woman to hold the office[5] and the first German since the commission's first president, Walter Hallstein.[6]

References
  1. Arne Delfs (22 January 2014), "Merkel Succession Beckons After Von der Leyen’s Defence Posting", Businessweek.
  2. "First woman nominated to lead EU Commission". 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  3. "EU leaders pick Germany's von der Leyen to lead Commission". POLITICO. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  4. Barigazzi, Jacopo; Herszenhorn, David M.; Bayer, Lili (2 July 2019). "EU leaders pick Germany's von der Leyen to lead Commission". POLITICO europe. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  5. Barigazzi, Jacopo; Herszenhorn, David M.; Bayer, Lili (2 July 2019). "EU leaders pick Germany's von der Leyen to lead Commission". POLITICO europe. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  6. Donahue, Patrick; Bodoni, Stephanie (2 July 2018). "EU Leaders Tap Germany's Von Der Leyen as Commission Chief". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 July 2019.

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